Residents in Thorhild County, Alberta, have been dealing with spotty or no cellphone signal for weeks after thieves brought down a Telus tower on June 14, stealing copper wiring and knocking out coverage for roughly 150 homes and farms.
The tower collapse happened early in the morning, and police believe it was a deliberate act. The 106-metre structure served a rural area northeast of Edmonton, stretching between Clyde and Thorhild, and its loss left many people unable to call, text, or get online.
Monique Janice Chartrand, who runs a roofing business and shares parenting duties in the area, told CBC News she’s worried about what happens if someone needs emergency help. “Just in case something ever happened—like if one of the kids fell down the stairs,” she said.
According to RCMP, the copper was stripped and taken, which they say was likely the motive. Copper is a valuable target for thieves and a growing concern for telecoms.
Telus, which operates the tower, told the CBC it has adjusted nearby antennas to try to restore coverage. “As a temporary solution, our teams have adjusted nearby antennas to provide as much coverage as possible to the community, though there may be some customers who experience intermittent or no service,” a spokesperson said.
They also confirmed a new tower is in the works: “We are working quickly to build a new tower, which we anticipate will be completed in September.”
This is the second Telus tower in northern Alberta to be hit in recent months. In March, a tower near Bruderheim was also brought down after a support cable was cut, though nothing was stolen in that case. That tower is expected to be restored by the end of July. The RCMP is still investigating both incidents.
As phone outages continue to affect rural communities, companies are increasingly looking at satellite-based backup options. SpaceX’s Starlink, for example, is working with Rogers to offer satellite-to-phone service in Canada. Some iPhones already support basic emergency messaging via satellite.
Meanwhile, copper theft itself is becoming a bigger issue across the industry. Bell recently reported a 23% year-over-year rise in copper thefts and called on governments to toughen laws to better protect Canada’s critical infrastructure.
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No need to steal tower, I still lose coverage with Telus.
Same with Bell
Pass legislation to make stealing copper and damaging utility infrastructure a terrorist offense and punish accordingly. 5 to 20 years in jail without parole for Canadian citizen offenders. Immediate deportation without appeal for non citizens.
Ok MAPLE MAGA time to pull that head out you're 🫏 as it's only theft and if you knew what terrorism is that ain't it unlike the pro-palestan or the freedumbers who are domestic terrorist as stealing copper doesn't terrorize a whole country
Dude, messing with critical infrastructure is totally illegal and should be punishable with years spent in prison. I’d like to see you defend copper thieves when they start messing with critical infrastructure related to the power grid.
Dude, messing with critical infrastructure is totally illegal and should be punishable with years spent in prison. I’d like to see you defend copper thieves when they start messing with critical infrastructure related to the power grid.
From all you're comments you need to sent to jail yourself bigot my god do you Maple MAGA's need to be in jail for 10-20 years hell better yet send you Maple MAGA up to Alert with no supplies